BackgroundViolence against adolescent girls in humanitarian settings is of urgent concern given their additional vulnerabilities to violence and unique health and well-being needs that have largely been overlooked by the humanitarian community. In order to understand what works to prevent violence against adolescent girls, a multi-component curriculum-based safe spaces program (Creating Opportunities through Mentorship, Parental involvement and Safe Spaces – COMPASS) will be implemented and evaluated. The objectives of this multi-country study are to understand the feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness of COMPASS programming to prevent violence against adolescent girls in diverse humanitarian settings.Methods/designTwo wait-listed cluster-randomized controlled trials are being implemented in conflict-affected communities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (N = 886 girls aged 10–14 years) and in refugee camps in western Ethiopia (N = 919 girls aged 13–19 years). The intervention consists of structured facilitated sessions delivered in safe spaces by young female mentors, caregiver discussion groups, capacity-building activities with service providers, and community engagement. In Ethiopia, the research centers on the overall impact of COMPASS compared to a wait-list group. In DRC, the research objective is to understand the incremental effectiveness of the caregiver component in addition to the other COMPASS activities as compared to a wait-list group. The primary outcome is change in sexual violence. Secondary outcomes include decreased physical and emotional abuse, reduced early marriage, improved gender norms, and positive interpersonal relationships, among others. Qualitative methodologies seek to understand girls’ perceptions of safety within their communities, key challenges they face, and to identify potential pathways of change.DiscussionThese trials will add much needed evidence for the humanitarian community to meet the unique needs of adolescent girls and to promote their safety and well-being, as well as contributing to how multi-component empowerment programming for adolescent girls could be adapted across humanitarian settings.Trial registrationClinical Trials NCT02384642 (Registered: 2/24/15) & NCT02506543 (Registered: 7/19/15).

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Establishing the provenance of mud, soil or other earth-derived particles found on items such as clothing, footwear or vehicles, can make a significant contribution to the intelligence and evidential phases of a forensic investigation. This paper reports the findings of a blind test case in which four experts in mineralogy, environmental particles, palynology and structural characterisation of organic matter at the molecular level were asked to provide information on the provenance of three soil samples from widely differing sites.The study demonstrated that combining multiple techniques and expert interpretations was very effective in the assessment of provenance for two out of the three study sites.At the other site, although the mineralogical analysis correctly identified the parent material to the level of the geological formation, some other lines of evidence proved to be potentially misleading. Clay mineralogy demonstrated a powerful potential to identify specific stratigraphic formations.Keywords: soil, palynology, mineralogy, particulates, lignin, TMAH, parent material 3The occurrence of earth-related particles such as minerals, pollen/spores and organic matter together with anthropogenic material on evidential items can help to establish their provenance, contributing to both intelligence and evidential stages of forensic investigations. For example, the search for the body of a murder victim in northern England during March 2005 was based on soil material believed to be from the body deposition site (1).The majority of soils across the UK (United Kingdom) landscape have developed over 10,000 years since the last ice age, with geochemical and mineralogical characteristics closely related to the parent material from which they formed (2). These parent materials include the underlying bedrock or any overlying Quaternary material such as glacial, riverine or windblown deposits. Individual parent material units vary in area from a few tens to hundreds of square kilometres. The proportions and characteristics of the dominant minerals (quartz, carbonates, clays) often differ sufficiently in the soils developed over these parent material types for them to be distinguished from one another at a regional scale. Hence, soil mineralogy could constrain potential source areas to a handful of regions based on expert interpretation and comparison with mineralogical databases and national maps showing the distributions of soils and parent material types.As the geology of the UK spans all the geological periods of the Earth's history with a diverse suite of parent rocks making up a relatively small landmass, it is likely to be wellsuited to the application of this approach. 4The provenance of a forensic sample might be further constrained if information is included on organic matter signatures of the lignin in plant fragments and pollen and spore assemblages. These two techniques are complementary as they provide information on vegetation types at and around the site, respectively. It may then be possible to ide...

Background Research examining the interrelated drivers of household violence against women and violence against children is nascent, particularly in humanitarian settings. Gaps remain in understanding how relocation, displacement and ongoing insecurity affect families and may exacerbate household violence. Methods Employing purposive sampling, we used photo elicitation methods to facilitate semi-structured, in-depth interviews with female and male adolescents and adults aged 13–75 ( n = 73) in two districts in Colombia from May to August of 2017. Participants were displaced and/or residing in neighborhoods characterized by high levels of insecurity from armed groups. Results Using inductive thematic analysis and situating the analysis within a feminist socioecological framework, we found several shared drivers of household violence. Intersections among drivers at all socioecological levels occurred among societal gender norms, substance use, attempts to regulate women’s and children’s behavior with violence, and daily stressors associated with numerous community problems. A central theme of relocation was of family compositions that were in continual flux and of family members confronted by economic insecurity and increased access to substances. Conclusions Findings suggest interventions that systemically consider families’ struggles with relocation and violence with multifaceted attention to socioecological intersections.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pervasive form of gender-based violence that exacerbates in humanitarian settings. This systematic review examined the myriad IPV impacts and the quality of existing evidence of IPV in humanitarian settings. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) procedures, a total of 51 articles were included from the 3924 screened. We identified the impact of IPV across two levels of the ecological framework: individual and microsystem. Our findings corroborated previous evidence that indicated IPV to be associated with adverse physical and mental health for survivors. Our findings also uniquely synthesized the intergenerational impact of IPV in humanitarian settings. However, findings highlighted a glaring gap in evidence examining the non-health impact of IPV for survivors in humanitarian settings and across levels of the ecological framework. Without enhanced research of women and girls and the violence they experience, humanitarian responses will continue to underachieve, and the needs of women and girls will continue to be relegated as secondary interests. Investment should prioritize addressing the range of both health and non-health impacts of IPV among individuals, families, and communities, as well as consider how the humanitarian environment influences these linkages.